Carson-Newman Women’s Basketball Position Previews: The Front Court
We begin our preview of the 2025-26 Carson-Newman women’s basketball team with a dive into the team’s frontcourt with junior forward Mattie Nuckolls.
VIDEO: Mattie Nuckolls Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – We begin our preview of the 2025-26 Carson-Newman women's basketball team with a dive into the team's frontcourt with junior forward Mattie Nuckolls.
Carson-Newman's graduates just one player from its frontcourt last season, but that player was the program's fourth-highest scorer in Lindsey Taylor. For the second time in her career, she reset the program's record for field goal percentage, shooting 64.8 percent this past season while scoring 13.3 points per game and grabbing 8.5 rebounds. She posted 29 double-doubles in her C-N career.
"Having Lindsey was huge," Nuckolls said. "She made us better in practice, you don't really face competitors like her every day. That really set us up well to succeed against other players and I think Abba (Abigail Johnson) learned a lot from her. She is such a strong defender just like Lindsey was. Abba still gives us a resemblance of her with her strength and size down there."
Nuckolls is one of four returning frontcourt players for C-N in 2025-26. The Chatsworth, Ga. native saw her role elevate as a sophomore, playing in all 32 games while averaging 16 minutes per game. The forward scored five points per game and was very efficient, making 44 percent of her shots from the field and 38 percent of three-point attempts. She had a career-day versus Wingate on Jan 18, scoring a career-high 15 points and blocking nine shots.
"This year we have really focused in on knowing our strengths and weaknesses individually," Nuckolls said. "I want to help the team with my strengths. Just trying to do a little bit of everything rebounding, blocking. Especially defense because it normally fuels my offense."
The Eagles return three other frontcourt players along with Nuckolls, including one that missed all of last season.
Kali McMahan (Dandridge, Tenn.) enters her senior season with 57 career appearances over the past three years. She shoots 31 percent for her career and has seven made three-pointers.
Abigail Johnson (Cookeville, Tenn.) readies for her second full season in Mossy Creek. As a redshirt-freshman, she played just shy of 11 minutes per game and averaged three points and three rebounds per game.
The final returning player in the frontcourt is Keeleigh Rogers (Knoxville, Tenn.), who missed all of the 2024-25 season with an injury. Rogers is a do it all forward that has 17 career starts in 63 appearances. For her career, she averages 5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.4 steals per game. She has led C-N in rebounding 14 different times, in assists 13 different times and has 12 career games with at least three steals.
"I think we all have really good chemistry," Nuckolls said. "I like the way we are playing right now and we are using everybody in all parts of the offense. Having Keeleigh back is great. She is such a strong defender. People are scared to play against her and I think her presence on the floor is going to change the game completely. Also having Abba and Kali that are threats from multiple spots on the floor is really going to be tough for the competition as well."
Head coach Mike Mincey welcomes three freshman into the frontcourt, two of which could probably play as guard as well.
Cybil Penland is one of the two guard/forward combos. The 5-10 freshman is the younger sister of Campbell Penland, the program's ninth all-time leading scorer. Cybil scored more than 1500 points during her high school career at Sevier County. She led the Smoky Bears in scoring all four years and was a TWSA all-state player each of her final two years.
Delaney Weddington is another versatile 5-10 forward, joining C-N from Morristown Hamblen West. She was a three-time district and all-conference player in high school and exceeded 1,000 career points during her junior year.
Chloe Heath is a 6-2 freshman from Maryville and is listed as the tallest Lady Eagle on the team. Heath scored more than 1,600 points in her high school career. In her senior year, she led Heritage to a state championship title and was named state tournament MVP.
"They definitely challenge us in practice," Nuckolls said. "They are gritty going for rebounds and not scared to bang around in there. I think it makes us better knowing that we have freshman that are coming in like this. Just challenging us in that aspect, I think that is really comforting knowing that we are growing. Cybil is very quick and has guard skills but she can also go down low and body someone with a mismatch. Delaney is really long and runs the floor well, a mean rebounder and a great passer. Chloe can shoot the lights out of the ball. It's good to have them and I'm excited about it."
Our Carson-Newman women's basketball position previews continue on Sunday with a preview of the team's guards with help from senior Emily Gonzalez (Lenoir City, Tenn.).
